An Inspired Del Potro and a Stumbling Nadal

Juan Martin Del Potro pulled off the only upset of the Men's Quarterfinals in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami against the best male tennis player in the world.

Going by their history, Nadal was the overwhelming favorite for the match having won all of their previous meetings in straight sets, and was expected to blow the Argentine away.

But Del Potro had other intentions than to just play the role his seeding would dictate, compared to the Spaniard. There was Argentina's Davis Cup loss in the final to be avenged.

Needless to say, Nadal being the best competitor in Tennis, the match went to a nail-biting finish. The Spaniard staved off two match-points with solid services in the decider, which though evoked memories of his fight back against another Argentine a couple of weeks back, was not enough this time.

Del Potro seemed to be more inspired than his other countryman and Nadal, a little less than the man that pulled off four winners in saving five match points against David Nalbandian in Indian Wells.

Del Potro was playing well inside the base-line which should be attributed to Nadal's poor ground-strokes that did not have the depth they usually do. The aggressive approach by Del Potro paid rich dividends as he won majority of the points from their gruelling baseline rallies.

A foot shorter was all that Del Potro required of Nadal's shots to dismiss them for winners, and this time the Spaniard was in a mood to oblige.

Nadal tried his luck at the nets too, but mostly, save on a very few occasions, his approach shots landed in no-man's land allowing Del Potro enough time to set-up returns that found Nadal awkwardly placed.

Nadal's all-court brilliance, though by no stretch of imagination is anywhere close to that of the likes of Federer (yet), that was on display against Wawrinka was clouded today.

Even Roger Federer thinks twice before approaching the net against Nadal, facing the risk of having to volley the most heavily top-spun returns in Tennis history, or being passed (nowadays he thinks thrice).

But Del Potro showed no such concerns and on majority of the occasions he came out on top with deft volleys which on touching the court surface did not bounce at all, or with killer winners that bore right through Nadal.

Add to that a very good service percentage and Del Potro would have won the match hands down, in two sets, against anyone but somebody named Rafa Nadal. Nadal has something that no one else can equal—the fighting spirit that makes him more and more formidable as the situation gets tighter and tighter.

Even on this day when his performance was below par by his own standards, he almost snatched victory from the deserving Argentine. Perhaps destiny decided that it would not be fair this time to grand Nadal the victory and lined the stars in the Argentine's favour.

Del Potro will take many positives from the match. His confidence will be highly boosted when playing the big four, against whom he has had a dismal record. He will remember the strategies and the positive attitude that he employed today in their next encounter, and he will believe that Nadal is beatable.

On the whole, it was an astounding performance by Juan Martin Del Potro, and a mediocre one from Rafael Nadal.